Editing Maldives (section)

===Protectorate period===
[[File:ConstantinoBraganca.jpg|thumb|[[Portuguese Empire|Portuguese presence]] in the Maldives was established in 1558, by order of [[Constantino of Braganza]], Viceroy of [[Portuguese India]].]]
[[File:Codice Casanatense Maldivans.jpg|thumb|16th-century Portuguese illustration from the [[Códice Casanatense]], depicting workers]]
[[File:18th-century Maldives map by Pierre Mortier.jpg|thumb|18th-century map by [[Pierre Mortier]] from the [[Netherlands]], depicting with detail the islands of the Maldives]]
In 1558, the Portuguese established a small garrison with a {{lang|pt|Viador}} ({{transliteration|dv|Viyazoaru}}), or overseer of a [[factory (trading post)]] in the Maldives, which they administered from their main colony in [[Goa]]. Their attempts to forcefully impose Christianity with the threat of death provoked a local revolt led by [[Muhammad Thakurufaanu al-Auzam|Muhammad Thakurufaanu al-A'uẓam]], his two brothers, and [[Dhuvaafaru]] Dhandahele, who fifteen years later drove the Portuguese out of the Maldives. This event is now commemorated as National Day which is known as [[Qaumee Dhuvas]] (literally meaning "National" and "Day"). It is celebrated on the 1st of [[Rabi' al-Awwal]], the third month of [[Islamic Calendar|Hijri]] (Islamic) calendar.

In the mid-17th century, the Dutch, who had replaced the Portuguese as the dominant power in [[Ceylon]], established hegemony over Maldivian affairs without involving themselves directly in local matters, which were governed according to centuries-old Islamic customs.

The British expelled the Dutch from Ceylon in 1796 and included the Maldives as a [[British protectorate]]. The status of the Maldives as a British protectorate was officially recorded in an 1887 agreement in which the sultan [[Muhammad Mueenuddeen II]] accepted British influence over Maldivian external relations and defence while retaining home rule, which continued to be regulated by [[Muslim]] traditional institutions in exchange for an [[Maldivian annual tribute|annual tribute]]. The status of the islands was akin to other British protectorates in the Indian Ocean region, including [[Zanzibar]] and the [[Trucial States]].

[[File:Maldivas xvi.jpg|thumb| 17th-century Portuguese drawing of the fortress of Maldives and the archipelago. In Antonio Bocarro's book of Fortress (1632)<ref>{{Cite web |title=BOCARRO, António, 1594–1642? Livro das plantas de todas as fortalezas, cidades e povoaçoens do Estado da India Oriental / António Bocarro [1635] |url=http://purl.pt/27184/3/#/1 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114164421/https://purl.pt/27184/3/#/1 |archive-date=14 January 2021 |access-date=20 June 2020}}</ref>]]

In the British period, the Sultan's powers were taken over by the Chief Minister, much to the chagrin of the British Governor-General who continued to deal with the ineffectual Sultan. Consequently, Britain encouraged the development of a [[constitutional monarchy]], and the first Constitution was proclaimed in 1932. However, the new arrangements favoured neither the Sultan nor the Chief Minister, but rather a young crop of British-educated reformists. As a result, angry mobs were instigated against the Constitution which was publicly torn up.

The Maldives remained a British crown protectorate until 1953 when the sultanate was suspended and the First Republic was declared under the short-lived presidency of [[Mohamed Amin Didi]]. While serving as prime minister during the 1940s, Didi nationalised the fish export industry. As president, he is remembered as a reformer of the education system and an advocate of [[women's rights]]. Conservatives in Malé ousted his government, and during a riot over food shortages, Didi was beaten by a mob and died on a nearby island.

[[File:Royal Air Force Operations in the Far East, 1941-1945 CF620.jpg|thumb|An [[RAF]] [[Short Sunderland]] moored in the lagoon at Addu Atoll, during WWII]]

Beginning in the 1950s, the political history in the Maldives was largely influenced by the British military presence on the islands. In 1954, the restoration of the sultanate perpetuated the rule of the past. Two years later, the United Kingdom obtained permission to reestablish its wartime [[RAF Gan]] airfield in the southernmost Addu Atoll, employing hundreds of locals. In 1957, however, the new [[Prime Minister of the Maldives|prime minister]], [[Ibrahim Nasir]], called for a review of the agreement. Nasir was challenged in 1959 by a local secessionist movement in the three southernmost atolls that benefited economically from the British presence on [[Gan (Addu Atoll)|Gan]]. This group cut ties with the Maldives government and formed an independent state, the [[United Suvadive Republic]] with [[Abdullah Afeef]] as president and [[Hithadhoo (Seenu Atoll)|Hithadhoo]] as its capital. One year later the Suvadive Republic was scrapped after Nasir sent gunboats from Malé with government police, and Abdullah Afeef went into exile. Meanwhile, in 1960 the Maldives allowed the United Kingdom to continue to use both the [[RAF Gan|Gan]] and the Hithadhoo facilities for thirty years, with the payment of £750,000 from 1960 to 1965 for the Maldives' economic development. The base was closed in 1976 as part of the larger British withdrawal of permanently stationed forces '[[East of Suez]]'.<ref name="gan.philliptsmall.me.uk">{{Cite web |last=Geary |first=Peter |date=17 May 1971 |title=The Sun never sets on the British Empire |url=http://gan.philliptsmall.me.uk/00%20-%20Articles/PeterGeary%20%5BBritish%20Empire%5D.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130919212227/http://gan.philliptsmall.me.uk/00%20-%20Articles/PeterGeary%20%5BBritish%20Empire%5D.htm |archive-date=19 September 2013 |access-date=2 April 2013 |website=gan.philliptsmall.me.uk}}</ref>